Maybe Radio Written by Leonid Barats, Rostislav Khait & Sergey Petreykov (translation by Anna Markland) Directed by Anna Markland Performance dates: Tuesday 19th March to Saturday 23rd March 2019 Venue: Baron s Court Theatre 1. Auditions When: Monday 14, Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 January 2019. Choose whichever date suits you best but bear in mind that auditions get busier later in the week. Time : Registration 6.40pm. Auditions from 7pm-9.30pm. Where: Deptford Lounge, 9 Giffin Street, London SE8 4RJ. Nearest stations: Deptford (3 minute walk) Deptford Bridge (8 minute walk) and New Cross (9 minute walk). Transport connections: Deptford station is 6 minutes from London Bridge on SouthEastern and ThamesLink lines. Deptford Bridge station is on the DLR from Bank or Canary Wharf. New Cross station is 5 minutes from London Bridge on the SouthEastern line (also goes from Cannon Street) and is on the Overground line from Canada Water.
Format: Auditions are free and open to all. You do not need to prepare anything for the initial audition. The audition will include a set of warm up/group activities, followed by a reading of a script extract (which you will have 5-10 minutes to prepare and then perform in front of the other auditionees). Recalls will be in the form of 1:1 readings with the director and/or paired/group work to test cast dynamics. All three KDC spring shows will be auditioning in the same venue at the same time, to allow you the chance to audition for two or three shows in the same evening. The audition slot for each show will last between 40-60 minutes. On the night you audition, you will be asked to fill in an audition form so that we have your contact details. On the form you can let us know if there are any specific parts you'd like to audition for or which play you prefer, as well as if there are any rehearsal dates you can t do. 2. Recalls You will be contacted by Thursday 17 January if the directors would like to invite you to recalls. Time: 12-4pm, Saturday 19 January 2019 Venue: Theatre Deli - Deli Studios, 2 Finsbury Ave, London EC2M 2PA. Nearest tube(s): Liverpool Street (4 minute walk), Moorgate Station (5 minute walk). 3. Show Dates The show will be performed from Tuesday 19th March to Saturday 23rd March 2019 at Barons Court Theatre, 28a Comeragh Rd, Hammersmith, London W14 9HR. Each performance will start at 7.30pm and you will be called at least an hour beforehand to warm up. There will be a full run-through the Sunday before the opening night and a dress and tech rehearsal during the day on the Monday before the opening night. On the Monday you will need to be available from midday onwards. If this is impossible for you, it may not vital but you will need to flag this to the director when you audition (verbally) and note it on your audition form. 4. Rehearsals First rehearsal (depending on cast availability) on Monday 21 January 2019. Rehearsals will be mainly on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons/evenings. You might not be needed for every single rehearsal. A rehearsal schedule will be created and circulated as soon as possible, once the cast s availability dates are all accounted for. KDC rehearsals take place in central London. The most frequent venues used in past seasons are: Theatre Deli - Deli Studios, 2 Finsbury Ave, London EC2M 2PA. Nearest tube(s): Liverpool Street (4 minute walk), Moorgate Station (5 minute walk) Hoop and Grapes pub, 80 Farringdon St, London EC4A 4BL. Nearest tube(s): Blackfriars (7 minute walk), St Paul s Station (9 minute walk)
5. KDC Subs Auditions are free and open to all. If you are cast, you will be required to pay a subs fee of 70, which gives you membership of KDC for three seasons (one year). KDC Theatre is a charity. Your subs, along with tickets, help to cover some of the costs of the putting on the show. 6. About the Play This show is a translation of the hugely successful День Pадио, a stage comedy performed in Russia and adapted into a film in 2008. Combining farce, improvisation and musical numbers, this production is a chance to bring Russian culture to a new audience. So what s the story? Moscow s number one hit music station is having their biggest night of the year launching the annual phone-in charity fundraiser or at least they would be, if their biggest rivals hadn t already stolen their theme. Join the DJs and station management as they try to save the day whilst dealing with endangered animals, suspicious pies, the Russian navy, office romance and of course, the best musical acts. After all, this is... Maybe Radio! 7. Cast Breakdown The show will need an ensemble cast to play the 8 main characters in the play. (No Russian accents required, by the way!) Main Character Description Stepan Arkadevich Anna Director of the radio station. Male, 30s-40s Although seeing himself as the voice of authority & reason, Stepan doesn t have all that much control over happenings at Maybe Radio. Plagued by calls from his overprotective mother and unable to commit to any meaningful relationship, Stepan secretly loves the drama his team bring and just wishes they would respect him more. Executive Assistant to the Director. Female, 20s-30s She is not particularly good at her job but is too absent minded to notice. Drawn to beauty, spiritual & superstitious, keen to be recognised for her efforts (believes she s an undiscovered star). Interested in people and their stories. Maxim DJ. Male, 20s-30s. Experience with physical comedy appreciated. Irreverent, physically expressive, impulsive, keen for things to be friendly and fun. He is a bit of a lad, although was too odd at school to hang with
the cool kids. Loves his job as it gives him an easy life. Viktor Station engineer. Male, 40s-50s. Ability to do an accent appreciated. Viktor is somewhat of a foreigner in Moscow, being an ethnic Tatar. He has an air of being unaware of, or unconcerned about, social norms. A fantasist & gifted bullshitter - still believes he could be an astronaut. Jack of all trades with a 'let's give it a go' attitude. Very self confident, perhaps aided by the fact that he is almost always slightly drunk. Oxana Station manager. Female, 30s A real people pleaser who respects authority. Loyal & hard working but lacking self confidence. Naive, a bit dim. Really admires Stepan, even though he never praises her. Family are quite well off with good social connections - which is how Oxana came to be in this dream vocation! Nona DJ & femme fatale. Female, 30s Seductive, demanding, emotionally volatile. She has very high standards, little patience. Feels she needs to be a bitch to get respect and succeed (which has a real drive to do) but at heart just wants to be loved. She has had relations with almost everyone in the office, whilst at the same time being very worried that her husband is going to leave her. Ksenia DJ. Female, 20s-30s Sarcastic, sharp, eager learner, risky & bold problem solver. Sensitive to others and wants to help. Fiercely independent. Ksenia has a sisterly relationship with Dima, in that they fight about stupid stuff all the time. Sees herself as a real professional but can be swayed by bad influences into petty behaviour. Dima Station producer/writer. Male, 30s A long serving member of staff at the station, Dima no longer feels he needs to take his job that seriously. Calm under pressure, sceptical of rules he doesn't agree with, practical, appreciative of an honest debate and a bit unaware of the emotional impact of his actions. Will do a good job provided it s not too much effort. Feels that he could do a better job of managing the station than Stepan, but was too lazy to apply for the role. There are some additional characters who appear in the play. These are roles that are only on stage for 1 scene or sometimes only their voice. Many of the roles can be doubled up by the actors playing the main characters.
Supporting character Captain & 1st mate Lead Singer of Nightshift Lead Singer of Metropole Paval Stepan s mother Lead Singer of Final Act Nona s husband Oxana s uncle Description Involved in short opening sequence about a fishing vessel getting stranded in the Sea of Japan. Involved in 1 scene being interviewed by the DJs. Involved in 1 scene being interviewed by the DJs. Slightly bemused with the goings on. Voice only. Male. Former Maybe Radio technical assistant, now living in Vladivostok & being called to help fix a situation. Tired & lonely. Voice only. Female. Nagging, easily offended, coddling Voice only. Involved in 1 scene with a short call about being stuck in a lift. Male, 30s-40s. Involved in 1 scene reconciling with Nona. Loves her dearly. Voice only. Male. Head of Russian Security Forces. Authoritative, old school. 8. About the Director Anna is relatively new to directing, although she has previously workshopped Maybe Radio with a cast, refining the translated script through rehearsals. During this rehearsal and production period, Anna will be advised by a Russian director who works on dual-language theatre productions in London. Anna s background is in improvised comedy and she will be using improv techniques throughout (no worries therefore if you re new to comedy acting). The rehearsals will also be a very collaborative process - providing guidance whilst being open to suggestions & improvisations from the cast. Hopefully the most exciting element of this production is a chance to learn more about Russian culture. Anna is originally from Ukraine and is a Russian speaker, so can share her insight. The previous cast got engaged with meals out at Russian restaurants and even learnt a bit of the language. To meet the directors and find out more about the audition process, come to KDC s Spring Season Launch 7pm on Thursday 10 January 2019 at The Hoop and Grapes, 80 Farringdon St, EC4A 4BL
9. Anything else? As you may notice, the play mentions musical acts and it would therefore be brilliant to feature live music. If you want to join the cast as a musician/singer, or know of anyone who might want to get involved in this capacity, please do say at the auditions. We welcome musicians of all abilities, provided you re comfortable performing. As off-tune singing would only add to the hilarity, there is no requirement to be any good!